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If physicalism is true, all property instances must be realized in microphysical states of affairs. Microphysical states of affairs will fall into types having causal profiles, and when a property instance is realized by a microphysical state of affairs, there will be an isomorphism between the causal profile of the property and that of a type to which the microphysical state of affairs belongs. Corresponding to every type of microphysical state of affairs realizer there will be a property — an MSE property — that something has, just in case its career embeds such a state of affairs. So every case of microphysical realization will be a case of property instantiation in which the realizer is an MSE property. Instantiations of higher-order properties will have microphysical realizers that are parts of the microphysical realizers of instantiations of the lower-order properties, that are their property realizers.

The chapter defends the claim that there can be coincident entities, different entities composed of the very same matter. Part of its aim is to explain how such entities can differ in their properties – as persons differ from their bodies. The explanation draws on a distinction between thin properties and thick properties, and between two ways, weak embedding and strong embedding, in which the microphysical realizers of property instances can be embedded in the career of an object, giving it MSE-properties (microphysical state of affairs embedding properties). Coincident objects share all of their thin properties, but can differ in their thick properties. The instantiation of thin properties consists in the weak embedding of microphysical realizers, while the instantiation of thick properties consists in the strong embedding of the microphysical realizers, and there can be the former without the latter. Objections to the possibility of coincident objects are considered and answered.

The chapter introduces the logic of using multiple systems estimation (MSE) in the context of estimating casualties in armed conflict, This technique, in its most basic implementation, demonstrably relies on four strong assumptions, which are typically explored and adjusted for with the generalization to three or more systems and a variety of MSE methods and estimators. The implications of violating these four classic assumptions, in particular the homogeneity and independence assumptions, do not translate clearly to the more-than-three-systems case. Case studies from human rights research in Peru and Kosovo are used to present the subtle ways in which misunderstanding these assumptions can lead to misapplication and misinterpretation of MSE methods. The chapter also discusses the capture-recapture issue by examining how MSE methods rely on patterns of inclusion or capture to represent the underlying population of interest even when the individual samples themselves are not representative.

This chapter responds to issues surrounding Mega Sports Events (MSE) using a study of the political and international relations dimensions of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 Football World Cup. The findings presented confirm the importance of foreign policy in the political ambitions held for the event and provide discussion points concerning the position of Middle Powers within the international community and the policy tools available to them. They also highlight how the value placed on the foreign policy potential of the event, such as the perceived opportunity to demonstrate parity of status with the developed international community, reduced the capacity to pursue or protect domestic policy interests. This notwithstanding, positive outcomes were perceived in a range of areas which suggests that hosting events in developing country contexts may provide valuable opportunities to advance domestic and foreign policy interests if more is known about the true nature of the opportunities presented and how to realise them.

This concluding chapter draws together the themes that have emerged in the volume and provides an overarching analysis of the three sections concerning the concepts and history of Sport and Diplomacy, its relationship to public diplomacy and soft power, and considerations of boycotts. Furthermore, it considers a range of questions which simultaneously consolidate but also challenge the parameters of the field. These include the validity of sport as a ‘site of diplomacy’, the value of spatial and temporal dimensions to the field, and lines of future research.

The literature on excess return prediction has considered a wide array of estimation schemes, among them unrestricted and restricted regression coefficients. We consider bootstrap aggregation (bagging) to smooth parameter restrictions. Two types of restrictions are considered: positivity of the regression coefficient and positivity of the forecast. Bagging constrained estimators can have smaller asymptotic mean-squared prediction errors than forecasts from a restricted model without bagging. Monte Carlo simulations show that forecast gains can be achieved in realistic sample sizes for the stock return problem. In an empirical application using the data set of Campbell and Thompson (2008), we show that we can improve the forecast performance further by smoothing the restriction through bagging.